Changing the upper deck on S/S Ejdern

The seasonal work of the winter 2000-2001 on our Good Old Lady was to renew a part of the upper deck, which in the last few years has been in bad condition with rainwater leaking in to the cookhouse and the passenger areas on the between-deck.
The deck is a wooden deck on a framework of steal. The upper deck area was wrapped in tarpaulins for the protection of the working area.
The deck will as previously be made out of pine.

Read the reports and look at the pictures below.

Report #1, November 30^th 2000
Some of the deck-planks on the port side (left side) has been taken up.



Report #2, January 13^th 2001
Now some of the deckbeams and the stringer-plate, (the edge between the deck and the deck-side), is being changed, since there is some corrosion there.



Report #3, February 24^th 2001
The deck beams and the stringer-plate are changed now. Remaining metal-work before the deck can be fit in position is to assemble two flat-steels at the edge as support to the deck-planks. In addition to this we are changing a piece of bad sheet metal at the outer bulkhead by the toilet.



Report #4, March 31^st 2001
All metal-work under the deck is complete. The support to the deck-planks at the edge is assembled and the sheet metal at the outer bulkhead by the toilet is changed. We started the spring preparations by washing the hull and the deck sides.



Report #5, April 22^nd 2001
The deck is being mounted. The plank-sheer, at the edge of the deck, is in place likewise is the first deck-plank. It took quite a while to make the plank-sheer since it shall have the same shape as the hull on the outer side and be straight on the inner side, at the same time. Besides, It is thicker at the outer edge as well, depending on the round of the beam.


Report #6, May 5^th 2001
Finally all the deck-planks are mounted. The last plank, a little bit thinner than the others, was fitted in the last day of April.
Then came May Day, the day for our trial-trip. When we arrived in the morning, presumably not a single crewmember believed that we should manage to get the ship ready enough for the trip since nobody had have time to clean up after the works of the winter. But shame on those who give in! People flocked to the ship and finally there were twenty of us. At a furious speed things were put away or in its proper place. Some begun to mount the steering-gear on the new deck. The engine was polished up and made ready for operation (the boiler had been lighted up a couple of days already). We also filled up the coal-bunker with new fresh coal for the first trips. And believe it or not… on the evening we could let go and take a short trip.


Report #7, May 28^th 2001 (Last report)
At last the deck is ready!! At the Ascension holiday we worked full speed with that that remained. The Thursday was devoted to caulking the deck, i.e. beating down thread of oakum in the seams between the deck-plank's. Friday we covered all planks with masking tape so that just the seams were free. This in order not to soil the wood with pitch. The pitch was cut up with an axe and melted in an old coffee-pot on a gas stove on fore-deck. The melted pitch was poured into the seams on top of the oakum.

Then we had to take a break in the work since we had our regular cruise to Birka the next day. That meant that we had to mount blocks, chains and all another equipment to steering-gear, that we had detached, just to be forced to dismantle it again afterwards. Sunday we scraped away the glut of pitch and grind down the deck and at the evening the deck was varnished a first time.
How a joint between the deck-planks looks like, in intersection, is shown in the image to the right. >>



The rest of the deck will be replaced coming winter! More reports then.

Text and pictures Claes H Nygårdh.